This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Christopher Peloso, husband of veteran politician George Smitherman, is missing, and friends and family are hopeful the doting father will come home soon.

The 39 year-old was last seen in the Davenport Rd. and Bathurst St. area on Monday afternoon. Police are concerned for his safety.

“Michael, Kayla and myself, with the support of family and friends, are hopeful that our husband and father will be home safely soon,” said Smitherman in a statement Tuesday, referring to the couple’s children. The remarks came almost 24 hours after Peloso was last seen wearing a dark-blue jacket with a hood, tan-coloured cargo shorts and blue flip-flops. Peloso, who has brown hair, is about 5’8” and around 150 lbs.

On Tuesday evening, friends continued to arrive at the family’s downtown home, along with two police officers dressed in suits. Two men who answered the door of the semi-detached home asked for privacy.

The house, described as a “Stylish Contemporary 4 Level Home” in an online listing, was put on the market a few days ago for $749,000. Late Tuesday evening, the “For Sale” sign was taken down.

Article Continued Below

Real estate agent Richard Silver, who has been friends with the couple for years, was upset by Peloso’s sudden disappearance.

“You just have to keep hoping for the best, that’s all,” he said.

Silver said Peloso is a very quiet, very concerned man; a wonderful father, who is attentive to “the kids and George.”

“That’s what he lives for,” he said.

Peloso’s Facebook page is filled with photos of the couple’s children dressed as rabbits, eating ice cream and cheering on the Maple Leafs.

When reached in Sudbury, Peloso’s family declined to comment further.

Dozens of supportive messages were posted to Smitherman’s Facebook page Tuesday. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau sent “thoughts and prayers” via Twitter, NDP leader Andrea Horwath wished Smitherman “strength.” Peloso’s friends expressed shock and concern over his disappearance, with one telling the Star that it was uncharacteristic.

Article Continued Below

Smitherman, who ran unsuccessfully against Rob Ford in the 2010 election, had also previously served as a Liberal MPP for the provincial riding of Toronto Centre. In July, he opted out of the Toronto Centre byelection, choosing “the FFF path (fun, family, finances) that we have been enjoying since my unplanned departure from politics nearly three years ago,” he wrote in the Huffington Post.

A Toronto Life profile published before the 2010 municipal election described Peloso as calm and affable, and “not much given to drama.” The article noted the couple had a lengthy on again off again relationship before settling down.

“We were on the party scene,” Peloso told Toronto Life, “and we both had some maturing to do. I loved him, but I didn't think he was ready to commit.”

Peloso told the magazine his only reservation was dealing with the challenges that come with being in the media spotlight, but he knew they could overcome “those things.”

They married in 2007, in front of 200 friends and family at a resort north of Elliot Lake. Peloso, then 33, told his hometown Sudbury newspaper he would welcome the day when gay marriage wasn’t considered newsworthy.

At that point, Smitherman was considered the second most powerful politician in the province with his roles as deputy premier and health and long-term care minister.

Peloso was then retail operations manager for Lindt Canada, a chain of chocolate boutiques.

“Speaking for myself, I think I always loved George,” he told the Sudbury Star in 2007, noting he loved both Smitherman’s passion for politics and his private side.

“The other side can be so ... first of all, so funny, and just so sweet and gentle and loving,” he told the newspaper. “I think that anyone who gets an opportunity to watch George with young kids or with pets, well, he’s just an amazing man.”

More from The Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com